


A Man Named Ned Bravery Chicane.

by ScarSacrifices



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canonical Character Death, F/F, Father Figures, Grief/Mourning, Spoilers, Trans Duck Newton, ned was her dad okay, no beta we die like men, post last episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23830555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarSacrifices/pseuds/ScarSacrifices
Summary: Aubrey Little has still not come to terms with the death of her friend Ned Chicane. A look into her bad days and her good.(Most of this is just me still not being over Ned's death so I'm putting my emotions onto Aubrey because this fandom can never have enough angst.)
Relationships: Dani/Aubrey Little, Edmund "Ned" Chicane & Aubrey Little
Comments: 8
Kudos: 25





	A Man Named Ned Bravery Chicane.

Sometimes it was easier.

Sometimes when Aubrey closed her eyes, she didn’t see the way his face fell when she told him to leave. Sometimes when it was quiet, she didn’t hear him begging her to “Just kill me! Burn me up!” Sometimes the quiet was just that… quiet. Sometimes she could walk into the Cryptonomica and smile at Kirby, looking around the shop and only remember the happy times.

She would walk in and remember just after a Saturday Night Dead shoot. Ned smiling ear to ear, his face split in a joy that was infectious. He would go over the show with Kirby, waving off criticism, and laughing boisterously recalling his jokes. He came over to her, slinging a thick arm around her shoulders, even though she was taller than him. Thanking her in a voice that was just a decimal too loud and leading her around the building she knew like the back of her hand. Showing off old displays and spinning tales with how he got them. Hair from a moth man (Indrid later confirmed that strangely enough that one was real.) A skull he claimed was originally used in Shakespeare’s first showing of Hamlet. He would smile and laugh, and she would too.

She remembered all of them at Amnesty lodge. Not to fight any monsters, or plan any daring takedowns, not even to discuss Sylvain. No, they just gathered around a bonfire outback, one that Duck made sure was up to code, sitting around it telling stories of their past.

Aubrey told them about her first show as a magician, how it went almost as bad as the one she met Mama at, although, the fire she started at that one had nothing to do with magic. Duck talked about growing up in Kepler, talking about the old that turned their nose at him when he first came out, but now called him Duck with no hesitation when he would sometimes visit them in their nursing homes. Ned owned the campfire stories. He would spin tales about how he once stole the model used in the original Godzilla movie, they all laughed along, indulging him in his fantasies. Aubrey wished she could go back to when they were just fantasies.

She remembered walking him around Sylvain once or twice. He spent enough time lying about believing in the supernatural it was about damn time he actually learned something. They walked together, Aubrey excitedly pointing out different landmarks, waving to locals who were used to seeing her walk these streets. They walked around the crystal, Aubrey muttering under her breath that she was, indeed, someday going to touch it. Ned laughed, roughly clapping her on the shoulder, giving her in-depth tips on how to get to the crystal undetected. Pointing out blind spots for the guards, showing her how to move and be undetected. She had laughed, telling him “Shut up, Ned. You couldn’t steal anything from anyone. If anyone should be giving tips about misdirection—” She paused for effect before holding up his wallet, “It’s The Lady Flame!” Ned had cackled, reaching out to snatch his wallet back but Aubrey took off like a shot, laughing and looking behind her to taunt her friend.

But she remembered those things on the good days.

Somedays, like today, she curled up in her old bed at Amnesty Lodge, lights turned off and curtains were drawn tight. She slept most of these days away, a glass of water that Dani had put down sometime in between fitful sleep placed on the table beside her. On these days Aubrey read the note from Ned over and over. By now the edges were frayed, wet spots that had dried up dotting along it where she couldn’t quite get strong control of her emotions like she wanted to.

The words: “I want you to hate me.” Being read again and again and dammit if Aubrey wouldn’t give anything to let him know that even after everything, she could never hate him. Even after she threatened him, even after she told him that he was a coward, that he should leave and prove everyone right; he still believed in the power of her love. Even after everything, Ned Fucking Chicane was still looking after her. Making sure that she was okay.

“Ned, I’m sorry.” She whispered into the dark of her room, curling tighter around herself and clutching the letter to her chest.

Somehow naming a city after him didn’t seem enough, somehow the statue outside of Amnesty Lodge didn’t seem enough, and somehow she thought that nothing would ever be enough.

On days like this, she remembered the grim determination set into his features as he dove into the water monster, ensuring that they would stay safe.

On days like this, she remembered him throwing himself in harm's way just to get the key to the door away from the shape-shifter.

On days like this, she remembered how he would smile at her when she was messing around, a loud “Calm down, Firefly.” Exiting his mouth in such a paternal way that she would actually listen.

Ned Chicane didn’t mean to, but in some way, he was partially responsible for the death of her mother. Was partially responsible for the way her father couldn’t look at her afterward, how she couldn’t look at him afterward. But dammit if somewhere along the way he didn’t become the dad that she needed. Ned Chicane was coward, but not when it counted. Ned Chicane put his life on the line for her, time and time again, shrugging it off afterward, cracking bad jokes or telling terrible stories.

On the bad days, Aubrey couldn’t get out of the bed. The hole in her heart hurt so bad without him by her side.

But on the good days? On the good days Aubrey fixed things, she protected herself from danger in the way she knew he would want her to. She walked the streets of the City of Chicane hand-in-hand with Dani, smiling at locals, telling terrible stories, and being brave. Ned may not be here anymore to ruffle her hair or encourage bad behavior, but he lives on.

After all, her greatest story to tell was the one about a man named Ned Bravery Chicane.

**Author's Note:**

> I MISS NED CHICANE. or couldn't you tell that from my everything? this quarantine really has me writing fics again and honestly its the one part of all this that I don't hate. I told myself I wasn't going to write about how I got super attached to Ned and got into the "he's my dad" mindset and then he FUCKING DIED. but Truthful is not my middle name. seriously I miss him. 
> 
> also, follow me on Tumblr @eloquentelliot


End file.
